How to Use a Gift Card on Amazon Prime

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If someone would ask me what Prime membership benefits I love and enjoy the most, then my answer would definitely be Prime Reading, Prime Video, First Reads, Prime Video Channels, Amazon Music Prime, Amazon Photos, and Prime Gaming — by no mean in a particular order.

Thanks to those Prime benefits I have been able to save some money that I would otherwise have spent on magazine subscriptions, ebooks, video, music, games, photo storage, and other streaming services.

Of course, when you are a Prime member, they are not the only seven benefits that you can enjoy because there are obviously a lot more benefits to enjoy, from Amazon Family, Amazon Kids+, Free Titles at Audible, Amazon Key, Prime Wardrobe, Amazon Books, to Prime Member Deals at Whole Foods Market and more. I am pretty sure that more and more new Prime benefits will be added in the near future.

What is not to love about Prime membership? Well, it is the fact that Amazon does not currently allow you to pay or renew your Prime membership using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance. It is quite disappointing if/when your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance is more than sufficient to cover your Prime membership for the next few years.

Is there any way around it? Thankfully there is, although you won't be able to pay for or renew your Prime membership directly and automatically, you can actually use your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance to buy the Gift of Prime, redeem it yourself and enjoy it as your own Prime Gift Membership.

Important Amazon's Policy: Sign-in Required

Note: Due to Amazon's recent policy, viewing the Gift of Prime page will require a sign-in. In other words, the Gift of the Prime page will only viewable when you are signed in. If you are not, you will be prompted to sign in using your Amazon.com account or create your Amazon account, in order to view the Gift of Prime page.

Let me also remind you that the Gift of Prime is currently only available, and can only be redeemed on Amazon.com (US).

Alternatives to Prime: Prime Discounted, SNAP EBT Enrollment and Prime Student

Before I go any further, please note that when you have one of the following two Prime memberships, you might not want to use your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance to pay for your Prime membership because you would otherwise lose your discounted rates:

• Prime Discounted is a Prime membership for qualifying customers with an EBT or Medicaid card. After your trial ends, customers who verify with a valid EBT or Medicaid card receive access to all Prime benefits, just $5.99 per month. Click here to start your 30-day Free Prime Discounted Trial.
• SNAP EBT Enrollment: Any Amazon customer who adds their SNAP EBT card, can shop deals and SNAP-eligible groceries. Free delivery available on order over $25. No Prime membership required. Click here to start your SNAP EBT Enrollment.
• Prime Student is a Prime membership created for college students. After your six-month trial ends, your Prime Student membership makes you eligible to receive 50% off regular Amazon Prime and access to all Prime benefits. Click here to start your 6-month Free Prime Student Trial.

What you need to know before paying for Prime membership using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance

Using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance to buy the Gift of Prime for Prime Gift membership is certainly an interesting alternative for two types of Prime members:

• You are currently a regular Prime member and your membership will end within a few days.
• You are currently enjoying Prime membership using the 30-Day Free Prime Trial, your trial will end within a few days, and you want to become a Prime member.

It is recommended to buy the Gift of Prime 1 – 2 days before your membership or your trial ends to make sure that you receive an email with details for redeeming the Gift of Prime in your inbox without any delay, which could lead to possible disruptions of your membership.

• If you want to become a Prime Gift Member using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance without 30-Day Free Prime Trial, please read Update 1 below.
• If you want to give a Gift of Prime membership to someone else (as a gift), please read Update 2 below.
• If you are already a Prime Gift member (gifted to you by someone else or gifted yourself previously), please read Update 3 below.

How to pay for Prime membership using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance

To be able to buy the Gift of Prime using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance, cancel your current Prime membership, and become a Prime Gift Member, please follow these following steps thoroughly:

Step 1. Go to Amazon.com, sign in with your Amazon account, and check your Manage Prime Membership page to find out when exactly your Prime membership will end.

Step 2. Go to the Gift of Prime page, and select the Gift of Prime for 3 months or 12 months, and click the Add Prime to Cart button (see image above).

Please note that due to Amazon's recent policy, viewing the Gift of Prime page will require a sign-in. So, you just need to sign in using your Amazon.com account or create your Amazon account if you are new to Amazon.

Step 3. Go to your Cart page on Amazon.com (checking out the Gift of Prime on the Amazon app is not currently available) and click the Proceed to checkout button, and you will be directly prompted to the "Choose gift options" page (see image above). Enter your own email address (the same email address used for your Amazon account and your Prime membership) into the Recipient's email box, and your preferred delivery date (see image above).

Please note that my delivery date shows "December 20, 2020" because I was purchasing it on December 20th, 2020, which was 1 day before my 4th year of Prime Gift membership ended.

Step 4. Optionally you can personalize your gift message with a reminder when you will want to redeem it for your Prime Gift membership, etc, otherwise, leave it as a default message (see image above). Click the Save gift options button to continue.

Step 5. Review your order. Double-check and make sure that the recipient's email and the delivery date are correct. On this page, you can see that your Amazon Gift Card Balance is attached to your credit or debit card (see image above arrow 1.) — meaning that if your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance is less than the Gift of Prime's price (plus applicable taxes), then you will be automatically paying the remaining amount with your credit or debit card.

So make sure that you have more than enough balance in your Amazon.com Gift Card to pay for your Gift of Prime. Alternatively, you can reload your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance with your credit, debit, or pre-paid card.

At this point, you also have the option to add a gift card, promotion code, or voucher by entering the code and click the Apply button (see image above arrow 2.).

Furthermore, on this page, you can also confirm that you are indeed paying your Gift of Prime (plus applicable taxes) using your Amazon.com Gift Card entirely (see image above arrow 3.) when you actually have enough balance. Click the Place your order button to finish your order (see image above arrow 4.).

Please note that it will take about 5 – 30 minutes until you receive an email from Amazon Prime with details for redeeming the Gift of Prime, in which you are the recipient.

Once you have received your email with details for redeeming the Gift of Prime, the next step is preventing your credit card from being charged on the day that your membership or your trial ends by canceling the membership altogether.

Step 6. Go to your Manage Prime Membership page, and click the End Membership link to cancel your membership.

Please note that Amazon obviously doesn't want to lose you as a member, so you will be prompted with several options before you are finally able to cancel your membership. Just keep clicking the End Membership and Continue to Cancel buttons until you get a confirmation email about your cancellation.

Once you have received your cancellation email, it is time to use your Gift of Prime, which you have been gifted yourself, for your own Prime Gift Membership.

Step 7. Go to your inbox and open the email with details to redeem your Gift of Prime. Click the Start enjoying Prime button to redeem your Prime Gift Membership (see image above).

Step 8. Verify your account information. You'll be prompted with "You are signed in with yourname@youremailaddress.com, etc", and click the Continue button to confirm that you would like to use that Amazon account for your Prime Gift Membership.

Congratulations, you are now a Prime Gift Member and your membership is set to expire on XX.XX.XXXX (depending on your Prime Gift Membership date). You can set your membership to automatically continue by updating your membership setting on your "Manage Prime Membership" page.

Please note that by clicking the "Continue Membership" link, your card or another card will automatically be charged and your membership continues until canceled. Or you can leave your membership setting as it is and pay your future Prime membership manually using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance with the Gift of Prime again.

Updates and Revisions

Update 1: If you want to become a Prime Gift Member using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance without 30-Day Free Prime Trial, just repeat the following steps:

• Go to Amazon.com, sign in with your Amazon account, and follow steps 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
• Skip step 6 because you obviously do not have to end your membership if you are not yet a Prime member.
• Follow steps 7 and 8.

Update 2: If you want to give a Prime Membership to someone as a gift, just repeat the following steps:

• Go to Amazon.com, and sign in with your Amazon account and follow step 2.
• Follow step 3. Pay attention to the "Recipient's email" box. Enter the gift recipient's email address correctly. If you don't know or you are not sure about the gift recipient's email address, enter your own email address and then forward the redemption email to your recipient later on.
• Follow steps 4 and 5. The recipient will receive an email with details for redeeming the Gift of Prime when you entered the gift recipient's email address (see step 3).

Update 3: If you are already a Prime Gift member, whether your Gift of Prime was gifted to you by someone else or gifted yourself previously, and you want to buy a new one for yourself, just repeat the following steps:

• Follow steps 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
• Skip step 6 because if you are already a Prime Gift member, your credit/debit card will not be charged and Prime Gift membership will automatically end. What you should pay attention to is which date your Prime Gift membership will actually end. For instance, my previous Prime Gift membership would end on December 21, 2020. So I bought and received my new Gift of Prime on December 20, 2020. I waited until December 21, 2020, which's the day I was no longer a Prime Gift member and my Prima page turned into the "Get Started" page (see image above), and then redeemed it myself.
• Follow steps 7 and 8. Enjoy your Amazon Prime Gift membership.

Please note that when you are already a Prime Gift member, you will not be able to redeem your newly bought Gift of Prime before your previous Prime Gift membership has completely ended.

If you have any comments or questions about how to pay for Prime membership using your Amazon.com Gift Card Balance, do not hesitate to leave your comment in the comment section below. Thanks.

Note: By donating you acknowledge that no goods or services are purchased with your donation and donations are non-refundable. Thank you.

Bonus tips:

• Click here to start your 30-Day Free Prime Trial, or click here to order the Gift of Prime from Amazon.com (US).
• Click here to start your 30-Day Free Prime Trial from Amazon.co.uk (UK).
• Klicken Sie hier um Ihre 30-Tage-Prime-Probemitgliedschaft zu starten von Amazon.de (Deutschland).
• Klik hier om uw 30-Dagen Gratis Prime te proberen van Amazon.nl (the Netherlands).

How to Use a Gift Card on Amazon Prime

Source: https://www.liabelle.me/how-to-pay-for-prime-membership-using-your-amazon-gift-card-balance/

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